Education

The Master of Science in Business Economics programme emphasises the acquisition of fundamental knowledge and skills in an area of specialisation related to the corporate world. By combining this programme with initial specialisations from the Bachelor's programme, you will develop deeper insight into a broad range of fields and fine-tune your personal graduation profile. On completing this programme, you will be able to apply scientific frameworks independently and critically, allowing you to evolve continuously in a dynamic society. KU Leuven occupies a leading position in management and economic research and is highly ranked by the European Economic Association. Top-level research and education complement and strengthen each other. The Faculty of Business and Economics Alumni Association includes many leaders of industry, ensuring excellent career opportunities for our graduates.

The Master of Science in Business Studies is an initial Master's programme. You can follow this programme on a full-time or part-time basis.

Profile

You have an entrepreneurial personality with broad socio-economic interests. You are fascinated by the business world and would like to pursue a management career in strategy, international business or finance.
To start this programme, students need a solid background in economics or business economics. They have acquired the basic conceptual frameworks of diverse areas in business economics and have a sufficient broad view on the general economic and social contexts in which business operate and on the human networks within these organisations.
Specifically, students need (a) sufficient analytical skills which will allow them to complete advanced courses in management (b) background knowledge of other social scientific disciplines related to managerial sciences (c) sufficient knowledge of economics.

For specific admission requirements, click on the desired programme in the 'Choose your courses of study' section.

Objectives

Building on previously acquired general economic knowledge and insights in business, the student is taught to judge complex business structures and propose creative solutions independently or in a team. He develops the skills to take on a management function in a company, he learns to fit decisions in with the whole structure of a company and assess strategic consequences for other departments of the company. He has a lot of specialised knowledge, but is also very versatile.
The programme consists of a compulsory part, a major and a minor and a Master's Thesis.
- The compulsory programme aims to lend the students insight into the strategic consequences of certain decisions.
- The major lends depth in a sufficiently broadly defined functional area, which trains the student for a management position with a wide variety of tasks within this area.
- The minor allows the student to choose between a further deepening of the area discussed in the major, or a broadening in other areas/disciplines.

After graduation

Graduates of the Master of Science in Business Economics generally take up managerial and/or research positions in business, national and international institutions, and in managerial functions at universities. Given the variety of skills acquired, you will be highly sought-after by a wide range of companies (from small firms to multinational corporations) in a variety of positions and sectors in Belgium or abroad. You can pursue a career as an auditor, entrepreneur, consultant, financial analyst, financial manager, project manager, sales manager or stockbroker. This is only a small selection of the many options available to you.

Information sessions

KU Leuven organises a Verderstudeerbeurs each spring. In addition, faculties also organise information sessions for many of their bridging and graduate programmes.

All information sessions for (future) Master's students

(Inter)national

One of the faculty's most important assets is its vast national and international network. We maintain strong links with the business and financial community by organising regular workshops with industry leaders and the European Commission, situated only 30 minutes from our campus. Many of our alumni work at European institutions, and many of the department's staff members act as advisers to various European bodies and international companies. The student association, Ekonomika, is equally active via its Business-to-University lecture programme. Our alumni network offers excellent communication channels and networking opportunities with leading figures in industry and politics.

We have a wide international student exchange network as well. Not only do we participate extensively in the (intra-EU) Erasmus programme (with 65 partners), we also have numerous agreements with leading universities outside the EU, e.g. the Wharton School of Business (University of Pennsylvania), the University of Chicago, Cornell University, the University of Illinois and Rochester University in the United States, the University of British Columbia, Queen's University, the University of Toronto and the Université de Montréal in Canada, the Indian Institutes of Management Calcutta and Bangalore in India, the Chinese University and the City University of Hong Kong, Beida, Tsinghua and Fudan in China, Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, National Taiwan University, Seoul National University in South Korea, Queensland University of Technology Brisbane and the University of Sydney in Australia, Stellenbosch in South Africa, Insper in Brazil, Esan in Peru, the University of Monterrey in Mexico and the Singapore Management University.

Spotlight

Our mission in the Master's programmes is to develop participants' critical, conceptual, problem-solving and decision-making skills. A Master's degree from KU Leuven's Faculty of Business and Economics equips students with fundamental and conceptual knowledge and with analytical tools to cope effectively with the problems of the current and constantly-changing business and economic environment. Adopting a research-based approach, the school focuses on the disciplines that underlie business operations and economic decisions. This enables its graduates to acquire the necessary skills and tools for coping with current and future challenges.

Contact

Faculty of Economics and Business
tel. + 32 16 32 66 12

Students can ask questions through the webform on: www.econ.kuleuven.be/onderwijshelpdesk/

General
Study Advice Service
Naamsestraat 80 box 5415
3000 LEUVEN, Belgium
To contact us please complete the contact form on our website.

Useful links

Visit website of the faculty.

Download this brochure

Download this Master's brochure.

Order this Master's brochure.